A bit about abiding

This past month the Lord has really been teaching me about what it means to abide in Him. John 15 talks about this practice and the fruit that comes from it. John 15: 4-9 reads:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

The word for abide translated in Greek is menō and gives a little more insight as to what it looks like to abide in the Lord. A few definitions for the Greek word menō are:

1. To continue to be present
2. To be held or kept
3. To endure
4. To remain as one

The first thing that strikes me when I think about the act of abiding is that it is restful. It is simply being with the Lord. But at the same time abiding is not a passive verb, it is something that takes both intentionality and discipline. To abide is to fight to keep our focus on the Lord and remain in Him rather than giving into possible distractions. When I look at the four definitions above of the word menō in each one I also see a possible distraction that could keep us from abiding in the Lord.

1. To continue to be present- in order to be present we must say no to comparison. Comparing either our past or the possibilities of the future to the reality of our present can keep us from seeing God in the here and now. Also comparing our current reality to others’ can keep us from seeing what the Lord is doing right now in our own lives.
2. To be held or kept- in order to be held or kept by the Lord we must say no to other comforts. God longs to be our comforter, but when we turn to other things or people for comfort instead of to God we are not fully abiding in Him.
3. To endure- in order to endure with the Lord it requires that we keep our eyes on Him instead of our circumstances. If our nearness to the Lord is dependent on what we are going through then we are missing out on the love and care He has for us in every circumstance.
4. To remain as one- in order to remain as one with God we have to say no to overconfidence. When we become too confident in our own abilities, plans, and knowledge we forget how much we need God, that we can do nothing apart from Him.

To abide in the Lord is to choose Him over all else. To choose Him over the temptation to fall into comparison, other comforts, our circumstances, and overconfidence. The Lord longs for us to abide in Him. Each day is a new invitation to abide in His love. To be present in His love. To be held and kept in His love. To endure in His love. To remain as one in His love.

Recently our squad had team changes and my new team decided that we would be Team Abide. Not only has the Lord been teaching me about abiding in Him but He has also been teaching me new teammates the same thing! This team name was not only significant in terms of abiding in the Lord but also signifies that we want to be a team that is present with each other, that holds each other well, that endures with each other, and that remains as one.

The next three weeks we are stepping into a season of ATL which stands for Ask The Lord. Instead of partnering with and living at a specific ministry host we have the freedom to ask the Lord where He is leading us in Guatemala. I am super excited for this time and think it will stretch our faith and grow our ability to hear from and rely on God. Please pray for our team during this time that we would walk in confidence and obedience in where the Lord is leading us!

All my love,

B🤍

P.S. In an attempt to decrease distractions and be present with my team and the Lord I will be fasting from my phone for these next three weeks. So no updates for a little while, but I’m excited to share with you guys later all the testimonies of what the Lord did during this time!